Birmingham Jersey Boys star Jon Boydon gets training from the mafia

Mar 29 2010 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

SINGER Jon Boydon has revealed how he’s turned himself into a music legend – with a little help from the Mob.

The Birmingham-born performer has just stepped into one of the lead roles in the smash hit West End musical Jersey Boys, which tells of the rise to fame of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

A major part of their story is about their tough New Jersey backgrounds and their links to local gangsters.

So when Jon won the role of lead guitarist Tommy DeVito, he was sent to America to immerse himself in Mob culture.

Jon, 33, says: “I’m a Birmingham boy, as far removed from a New Jersey gangster as it is possible to be!

“I’m even blond, so I’m fighting against type. I’ve had to dye my hair darker and get a tan.

“Jersey Boys is set in a particular part of New Jersey called Belleville – this is the world of Goodfellas and The Sopranos.

“I was sent off to New York to Jersey Boys boot camp. For the first three days, I got a potted history of Italian migration and the structure of the Mafia.

“I had a very intense day with dialect coach Stephen Gabis, who’s worked with Broadway stars like Scarlett Johansson.